Rail passengers in Leicestershire could soon have access to a new style of 'contactless' train travel. The new way of paying will use GPS-based technology to measure passengers' journeys, and require passengers to 'tap in and out' using their phones.

A spokesperson for the Government's Department for Transport (DfT) said a tender was under way to find a supplier for the technology needed to run the trial, and that the successful bidder would work alongside East Midlands Railway (EMR) to deliver the scheme. EMR provides services from Leicestershire to the North and London.

The DfT spokesperson said: "Unlike the previous rollout of pay as you go, these trials will use GPS-based technology. This will track your location on your train journey, ensuring you pay the best fare for the journey you take.

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"The use of contactless ticketing offers passengers simpler, more accessible and more flexible train travel as well as a guarantee of the best value ticket on the day." The spokesperson said the trial would "help to improve living standards and make working people better off".

The Government said the GPS-based trial would follow a trial of contactless ticketing at 53 stations across the South East. The spokesperson said: "In the first six months of contactless ticketing being available at the first six stations, more than 268,000 entries and exits were made using contactless cards or mobile devices – showing how popular the system is with customers using those stations already."

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said: “We’ve seen the success that contactless ticketing has on making journeys easier to navigate and attracting more people to our railways. It’s only right that we now look to expand contactless ticketing to other major cities."

Oli Cox, EMR's head of commercial strategy and business planning, said: “We know that complex fares can sometimes be a barrier to travel, and this trial will help to remove that uncertainty - allowing customers to simply tap in and out via their phone – confident that they’re getting the best value fare for their journey.”

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